China bulb ban will eliminate 1 billion incandescents annually

Joining the U.S. and just about every other country with an economy, China will ban import and sale of incandescent bulbs beginning in 2014, reports the AP.

State-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Xie Ji, deputy director of the NDRC's environmental protection department, as saying China is the world's largest producer of both energy-saving and incandescent bulbs and so the plan will also "have a significant impact" in reducing the use of incandescents worldwide.

Last year, 3.85 billion incandescent light bulbs were produced in China and 1.07 billion of them were sold domestically, the agency said. Power consumption for lighting is estimated to be about 12 percent of China's total electricity use, it said.

The ban will save China 48 billion kilowatt hours of power per year. Which, if I'm doing my math right, is the equivalent of almost 100 nuclear reactors or large coal-fired power plants. Good grief.